Wayne Newton

He calls himself a saloon singer. Others know him as "Mr. Las Vegas. " He's a full-time casino entertainer and part-time Hollywood actor whose closest minions call him "Chief. " Wayne Newton is an American institution. Yet Wayne Newton, the cover boy of Spy magazine's February issue, hasn't had a sizable hit in more than a decade, his records receive no radio air play, the sales of his autobiography were less than modest, and he's more often remembered for his guest spots on The Lucy Show.

Singer-actor Wayne Newton, the child star who gained fame as a high-paid Las Vegas performer, filed for bankruptcy protection listing an estimated $20 million in debts, it was reported yesterday. Newton's assets listed in the Chapter 11 petition filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court late Friday in Reno have not yet been appraised, but "pretty much include everything he has," said his lawyer, Gerald Gordon. The holdings include Newton's Arabian horse ranch, his mansion on the outskirts of Las Vegas and a Lake Tahoe property.

With a mouth like the Geator's, who needs Little Nicky Scarfo's gun? New Jersey authorities said last week that Jerry Blavat once asked his mobster pal Scarfo to rub out DJ competitor Hy Lit. Yesterday Blavat sat face- to-face with Lit on Channel 6's AM/Philadelphia. He compared Lit to Wayne Newton. It was no confrontation between helpless victim and seedy characters in a dark alley, no rapid-patter DJ face-off on the radio. It was television, where everyone goes to air their difficulties these days, and where Lit and Blavat got more exposure at 10 a.m. than they get in a year of rockin' after dark disco parties.

Brenda Richie, wife of Lionel Richie, was booked on a variety of charges after she allegedly broke into a Beverly Hills apartment about 2:30 a.m. yesterday and got into a fight with her husband and a woman. Police said they were called to Diane Alexander's digs by neighbors who heard a woman scream. "Our officers arrived . . . (and) observed suspect Brenda Richie striking and kicking (Alexander) on the floor of the apartment," said a police spokesman. "A second victim, entertainer Lionel Richie, later phoned and stated that he had been kicked in the stomach area by Mrs. Richie (at the apartment)

Impressionist Fred Travalena, 66, a regular in Vegas showrooms and on late-night talk shows with his takes on presidents, crooners and screen stars, died Sunday in Encino, Calif., after a recurrence of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Mr. Travalena did a large number of celebrity impressions, leading to the nicknames "The Man of a Thousand Voices" and "Mr. Everybody. " His act included presidents from Kennedy to Obama, musicians from Frank Sinatra to Bruce Springsteen, and actors from Marlon Brando to Tom Cruise.

What could be worse than a sequel to "Best of the Best," arguably the dumbest entry ever in the martial arts movie genre? Well, surprise. "Best of the Best 2" is not second "Best. " It's got superior production values, better acting, a more interesting story and Wayne Newton. Starring the original karate competition team of Eric Roberts, Phillip Rhee and (briefly) Christopher Penn, "Best 2" is as different from "Best 1" as, well, "Rocky IV" was from "Rocky. " "Best 2" unfolds in Las Vegas and the surrounding desert.

In the early going of Vegas Vacation - the fourth installment in the series launched with 1983's National Lampoon's Vacation - Chevy Chase arrives home with happy news of a bonus. "My lifelong food preservative has finally been approved!" he tells the wife and kids, serving ancient chocolate-chip cookies and pouches of old milk to celebrate. Alas, the Vacation movies seem destined to be around long after their expiration date, too. In Vegas Vacation, Chase is back, with a rounder midriff, as middle-American dad Clark Griswold, and Beverly D'Angelo returns as his faithful frau, Ellen.

Donna Summer's family says the singer died of lung cancer even though she wasn't a smoker. TMZ says the diva believed she contracted the disease by breathing in toxic air after the Sept. 11 attacks in New York. Summer, who died Thursday at 63 in Naples, Fla., lived near ground zero. Summer's family rep, Brian Edwards, also said on Friday that the singer's funeral would be private and declined to disclose a time or place for the event. J-Lo: I'm undecided Jennifer Lopez denies she's already quit American Idol.

Everywhere the camera looks in The Dark Backward, an exercise in puerile and self-conscious grossness masquerading as satire, there is garbage. It is heaped in towering landfills and it flies in blizzards of trash and debris along the dark alleys of an unnamed city. The point that writer- director Adam Rifkin wants to make is that we live in a garbage-in/garbage- out culture. He makes it with a film that is mostly garbage itself. The Dark Backward (a title presumably designed to identify the level of intelligence to which Rifkin is appealing)

WAYNE NEWTON BAILS PLATO OUT Looks like Dana Plato, recently charged with robbing a video store in Las Vegas, will be singing "Danke Schoen" for a spell. Las Vegas entertainment kingpin Wayne Newton has owned up to posting the $13,000 bail that allowed Plato, one of several stars of "Diff'rent Strokes" who lately have fallen on hard times, to leave jail. Mark Moreno, Newton's manager, said his boss has never met Plato, but wanted to help because "he knows what it is like to have been a child star.

ABC has announced the chorus line for its 15th season of Dancing With the Stars , which will begin in September. It's a field made up of previous contestants that the network is labeling an "all-stars" edition. A couple of things leap out of that news flash. It implies that up until now, the show has been exercising a great deal of latitude in its definition of "stars. " And the fact that it is now recycling participants suggests that we may finally have exhausted America's vast storehouse of random and bizarre quasi-celebrities.

Donna Summer's family says the singer died of lung cancer even though she wasn't a smoker. TMZ says the diva believed she contracted the disease by breathing in toxic air after the Sept. 11 attacks in New York. Summer, who died Thursday at 63 in Naples, Fla., lived near ground zero. Summer's family rep, Brian Edwards, also said on Friday that the singer's funeral would be private and declined to disclose a time or place for the event. J-Lo: I'm undecided Jennifer Lopez denies she's already quit American Idol.

"If you don't have a story," says Jimmy Rosa, "there's nothing. It's like a marriage without love. And if you made money without a story, you can't be happy. " Jimmy hasn't made money yet, but he's got the story. If it ends well, money's coming. Jimmy, 48, of Langhorne, grew up outside Fall River, Mass. His parents didn't put much emphasis on education, and neither did he. He had a chance to play junior college football, but family steered him to the Navy. On the aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy he met Bob Hope and Wayne Newton.

Bally's Atlantic City, Boardwalk at Park Place, 609-340-2000, ballysac.com. "Let's Make A Deal Live" starring Joey Fatone, 7:30 p.m. tomorrow, Monday and Tuesday, 2 p.m. Sunday, 2 and 7:30 p.m. Wednesday. $25 and $20. Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, 1 Borgata Way, 609-317-1000, theborgata.com. Jeffrey Ross/J.B. Smoove, 9 tonight (Music Box), $24.50. Wanda Sykes, 8 and 11 p.m. tomorrow (Music Box), $65 and $55. Caesars Atlantic City, Boardwalk at Arkansas Avenue, 609-348-4411, caesarsac.com.

Impressionist Fred Travalena, 66, a regular in Vegas showrooms and on late-night talk shows with his takes on presidents, crooners and screen stars, died Sunday in Encino, Calif., after a recurrence of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Mr. Travalena did a large number of celebrity impressions, leading to the nicknames "The Man of a Thousand Voices" and "Mr. Everybody. " His act included presidents from Kennedy to Obama, musicians from Frank Sinatra to Bruce Springsteen, and actors from Marlon Brando to Tom Cruise.

HOLLYWOODIANS love to give awards, get awards, sell awards . . . and they absolutely adore the end of every year, which is when a lot of awards get tossed around, hitting and sticking to some of them. Two awards lists were just announced, one earned and the other just sort of made up - but, then, so is Hollywood. Reese Witherspoon took top moneymaker honors in The Hollywood Reporter's annual list of the highest-paid actresses. The 31-year-old Academy Award winner commands $15 million to $20 million a movie.

WHEN YOU think of "entertainer," who comes to mind? A lot of late people - the late Frank Sinatra, the late Sammy Davis Jr., the late James Brown, the late Liza Minelli . . . oh, wait, it's only her career that's dead. Maybe Celine Dion, in some alternate universe. Don't say Wayne Newton. Please. Is there such a lack of entertainers these days that Entertainment Weekly felt compelled to name J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter mega-popular series, as its Entertainer of the Year?

Brit can't drive boys, judge rules L.A. County Superior Court Judge Scott Gordon decreed yesterday that Britney Spears is no longer allowed to drive with her two sons in the car, TMZ.com reports. Gordon made the ruling after being told - by lawyers for Brit's ex, Kevin Federline - that on Nov. 8 Brit ran a red light while the tykes were in the car. K-Fed's lawyers, who had requested the 90-minute emergency session (neither celeb was in court), offered yesterday to show the judge a video taken by a paparazzo documenting the incident.

You may have read that Gary Sinise got a healthy salary bump this week. He'll now be pulling down $5 million a year for scowling on CSI: NY. No mention of any increase for his costar, Melina Kanakaredes. If this television season has taught us anything, it's that women in prime time shouldn't ask for raises - unless they are prepared to see their characters tortured or killed. Take Jorja Fox, who has a history of playing contract hardball with the CSI mothership. The show just fed her Sara Sidle to the most diabolical serial murderer ever to hit Vegas, the Miniature Killer, who pinned Sara beneath a car and left her to wander around the desert with a shirt around her head that made her look like a deranged Rhoda Morgenstern.